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A 54-year-old woman in Kerala has tested positive for the novel coronavirus almost a month after she arrived from abroad, and had been quarantined at home ever since. Health officials said there have been at least a dozen cases so far of people testing positive after having been quarantined for 28 days.
As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), the incubation period ranges from one to 14 days in most cases, and symptoms commonly appear around five days later. However, these symptoms can be very mild, and in some cases, patients have failed to recognise them.
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In Kerala, unlike in most other states, the prescribed period of quarantine for asymptomatic individuals is 28 days.
The woman landed in Kannur from Sharjah on March 18, and had been under observation at home. Her samples were collected on April 16 as part of a special testing drive in the district, and the results were available on Saturday.
A second person, aged 30, too tested positive in Kannur on Saturday, 28 days after he reached Kerala from Dubai.
A Health Department official said they had come across a dozen cases of people testing positive after completing 28 days of home isolation. “We have been testing all those who returned from abroad, and the primary contacts of positive cases in Kannur. Even though they have tested positive, these patients have no symptoms,” the official said.
“We have to study whether the virus found among patients in Kerala has developed a mutation,” the official added.
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